Farcaster Founder Responds to Rumors: Protocol Not Shutting Down, Merkle to Fully Refund $180M Fund

BlockBeats News, January 23rd: In response to recent market rumors, Farcaster founder Dan Romero posted a clarification stating that Farcaster has not shut down. The protocol is currently running smoothly and will continue to operate in the future. Data shows that Farcaster had approximately 250,000 Monthly Active Users (MAU) in December 2025, with over 100,000 funded on-chain wallet addresses.

Romero stated that Farcaster's acquirer, Neynar, is a venture-backed startup planning to move Farcaster in a more developer-centric direction in the future, rather than terminating the project.

Farcaster's parent company, Merkle, has decided to fully refund the $180 million raised from investors. He noted that over the past five years, the team has always strived to be a responsible custodian of investor funds.

Romero also clarified that the source of funds for his real estate purchase came from the proceeds of the Coinbase IPO, addressing external speculation.